DOCSLIB.ORG

Ritual and Ritual Text in the Zoroastrian Tradition: the Extent of Yasna 

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ritual and Ritual Text in the Zoroastrian Tradition: the Extent of Yasna  Ritual and ritual text in the Zoroastrian tradition: The extent of Yasna ARASH ZEINI Abstract This article examines the extent of the concluding section (Y ) of the Yasna Haptaŋhaitī in light of the manuscript evidence and the section’s divergent reception in a Middle Persian text known as the “Supplementary Texts to the Šayest̄ ne ̄Šayest̄ ” (Suppl.ŠnŠ). This investigation will entertain the pos- sibility of an alternative ritual being described in the Suppl.ŠnŠ. Moreover, it argues that the manuscripts transmit the ritual text along with certain variations and repetitions while the descriptions of the extent of each section preserve the necessary boundaries of the text as a textual composition or unit. Keywords: Zoroastrianism; Yasna; Avestan; Middle Persian; Rituals The five Gaϑ̄as̄and the Yasna Haptaŋhaitī (“Yasna in seven sections”) constitute the core of the Old Avestan (OAv.) sections of the Yasna (Y), a Zoroastrian ritual text commonly divided into haitī (“section, chapter”) and at the centre of many Zoroastrian rituals.1 As Cantera recounts, Scholars have long debated the structure of the Old Avestan texts, examining the age of the divisions of the Gaϑ̄as̄into haitī.2 In that same article, Cantera questions whether the Yasna Haptaŋhaitī (YH) originally consisted of seven haitī, arguing that despite its name the Yasna Haptaŋhaitī“was not originally divided into seven chapters”.3 1The yaϑāahūvairiiō(Y .) and airiiaman išiia (Y .) are also composed in Old Avestan. In my view, these constitute together with the yeŋhé̄hatām̨and the asˇə̣m vohūmoveable sections of the Zoroastrian ritual texts. Out of convenience, I refer to these sections as prayers. On chronology, dialects and geography of OIr. languages, see P. O. Skjærvø, ‘The Avesta as source for the early history of the Iranians’,inThe Indo-Aryans of ancient South Asia: Language, material culture and ethnicity (Indian Philology and South Asian Studies ), (ed.) G. Erdosy (Berlin, ), Chapter , pp. –. For the Zoroastrian hermeneutic treatment of the prayers, see Y. S-D. Vevaina, ‘Resurrecting the resurrection: Eschatology and exegesis in late antique Zoroastrianism’, Bulletin of the Asia Institute ( []), pp. –. 2A. Cantera, ‘How many chapters does the “Yasna of the Seven Chapters” have?’, Iranian Studies ()(), pp. –. 3Ibid., p. JRAS, Series , , (), pp. – doi:./S © The Author(s), . Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Royal Asiatic Society. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence (http://creative commons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/./), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the same Creative Commons licence is included and the original work is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.19, on 01 Oct 2021 at 07:54:08, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1356186321000110 Arash Zeini Cantera’s perceptive observations are based on the use of the YH in the ritual as reflected in one manuscript, but are not easily reconciled with the manuscript tradition that preserves a structure suggestive of a division into seven haitī. Here, I will examine the extent of the con- cluding haitī (Y )oftheYasna Haptaŋhaitī in light of the manuscript evidence and the haitī’s reception in Middle Persian (MP) texts, irrespective of the age and authenticity of the structural divisions. I am delighted to offer this paper to François de Blois in honour of his life’s work. In his edition of the Avestan texts, Geldner divides Yasna into eight stanzas, while not- ing that the manuscript “Pt reckons Strophes”.4 Elsewhere, he assumes that the YH ends with Y ..5 Narten6 and Humbach7 posit six stanzas, Kellens and Pirart8 five, while Hintze9 follows Geldner positing eight stanzas. By contrast, the exegetical manuscripts of the Pahlavi Yasna (PY) unambiguously assign six stanzas to Y , ruling out any additional strophe at the end of Y : šaš wıc̄asť sēgah̄.10 Y . and the concluding instructions of the haitī appear as follows in manuscript (Pt): Y .11 (a) ahiiāhuuōnǝ̄daid̄ı ̄ahmaicā̄ahuiiēmanaxiiacā̄an̄ı ̄⁺oȳ12 anō ̄amādahēpad-iz en̄ axwan̄ pad-iz menōyān̄(b) tat̰ahiiāyātat̰upajamiiā mā ̄ kūedōn̄ pad anē dōn̄ abar rasem̄(c) tauuacāsarəm asˇaxiiạ cā̄vıspā ī yaoē ōed̄ı ̄tōsalār̄ıh̄ ud ahlaȳıh-iz̄ hamētāōwisp yeŋhé̄hatām̨ yazišnıḡıhē wāmrū d̄ıggō wīšn humatanambį šamrū d̄ıggō wīšnyaϑāahūvairiiōcasrǔ šamrū d̄ıḡ gowīšnasˇǝ̣mvohū̄srišamrū d̄ıggō wīšn yasnəmsur̄əm haptaŋhait̄ımas̄ ˇauuaṇ əmasˇahẹ ratum̄ yazamaide pad yasn ı ̄abzar̄ı ̄haft had̄ı ̄ahlaw ı ̄ahlaȳıh̄ rad yazom yeŋhé̄hatām̨ yazišnıḡıhā̄ewāmrū d̄ıggō wīšn šaš wıc̄asť sēgah̄ yeŋhé̄hatām̨is to be recited once in the manner of worship. humatanam̨is to be recited two times. yaϑāahūvairiiōis to be recited four times. asˇǝ̣mvohū̄is to be recited three times. We sacrifice to the strong Yasna in Seven Sections, the orderly ratu of asˇa.̣ We worship through the powerful Worship of Seven Sections, which is righteous (and) the authority of righteousness. yeŋhé̄hatām̨ is to be recited once in the manner of worship. Six stanzas, three verse lines. 4K. F. Geldner, Avesta. The sacred books of the Parsis (Stuttgart, –) Vol. I–III, Vol. I, p. , fn. .. 5Ibid., p. For an overview of the various attempts to define the boundaries of the YH, see J. Narten, Der Yasna Haptaŋhaitī (Wiesbaden, ), p. with references. 6Narten, Der Yasna Haptaŋhaitī,p.. 7H. Humbach, The Gathā s̄ of Zarathushtra and the other old Avestan texts (Heidelberg, ) Vol. I–II. In collab- oration with J. Elfenbein and P. O. Skjærvø, Vol. I, p. In the introduction, Humbach, ibid., p. , considers the YH to encompass Y .–., viewing Y . as Yav. 8J. Kellens and É. Pirart (eds.) Les textes vieil-avestiques. Introduction, texte et traduction (Wiesbaden, ), Vol. I, p. For a discussion of their position, see A. Hintze, A Zoroastrian liturgy. The worship in seven chapters (Iranica ) (Wiesbaden, ), pp. ff. 9Hintze, A Zoroastrian liturgy,p.. 10Counting the stanzas of a haitī, or extent descriptions, is a feature found in the manuscripts of the so-called Iranian family of the Pahlavi Yasna. I refer to these manuscripts as the exegetical manuscripts of the Yasna and discuss them in a forthcoming paper on editing the Pahlavi Yasna. 11I quote this passage verbatim from , but leave the stanza untranslated as it is not discussed in this article. 12 reads . I have emended it to ʿLH based on the other manuscripts’ reading. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.19, on 01 Oct 2021 at 07:54:08, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1356186321000110 Ritual and ritual text in the Zoroastrian tradition The brief description of Y in the Supplementary texts to the Šayest̄ ne ̄Šayest̄ (Suppl.ŠnŠ) agrees with this count of the stanzas: Suppl.ŠnŠ .13 stutō̄garȯ 14̄ šaš wacasť humatanamdǫ̇ ̄ǰar̄ huxšatrotemā ī15 sēǰarbū dan̄ ı ̄pusaran̄ı ̄ zarduxštraȳ stutō̄garōhas six stanzas, humatanam̨ (is to be recited) two times (and) huxšatrotemā ī three times on account of the existence of Zarduxšt’s sons. The priestly tradition, however, ostensibly contradicts itself when defining the extent or boundaries of the YH in an earlier paragraph: Suppl.ŠnŠ . yasn bun kardag nōwacasť u-š bun humatanamu-̄ š sar humatanam̄ The beginning section of the Yasna has nine stanzas. Its beginning is humatanam̄ and its end is humatanam̄. Based on this passage, Kotwal16 views humatanam̨ (Y .) as the first and final stanza of the YH, thus positing seven stanzas for Y .17 This view is thus in disagreement with Suppl.ŠnŠ . and the number six given in the extent descriptions in the manuscripts. While the first clause of Suppl.ŠnŠ . undoubtedly discusses the first section or chapter of the YH ( yasn bun kardag), the referent of the following clause (u-š bun …) is grammatically ambiguous. It could refer to the YH as a whole or to Y . Both interpretations are gram- matically permissible. Since the following paragraphs of Suppl.ŠnŠ describe the individual kardag of the YH, one may be inclined to take the second clause as referring to Y and not the whole of the YH. However, with only nine strophes assigned to Y in Suppl.ŠnŠ . and at the end of the kardag in the exegetical manuscripts of the Yasna, it would be difficult to justify another stanza after Y .. In fact, such a strophe, i. e. another humatanam̄ (Y .), is not attested in any of the examined manuscripts as a stanza or as a repetition.18 Moreover, according to Suppl.ŠnŠ . the YH comprises stanzas: ud yasn ceheľ wacasť ud harw wacast-ě ̄sēgah̄“And the Yasna has forty stanzas and each stanza three lines”. The number forty, however, can only be accounted for if the YH starts at . (humatanam̄) and ends at .. Therefore, if Suppl.ŠnŠ . does not constitute an otherwise unattested tradition, which would repeat Y . at the conclusion of the first kardag, we would have to concur with Kotwal that Suppl.ŠnŠ . refers to the end of the YH. Indeed, as mentioned above and in Table , the repetition instructions at the end of Y . indicate that Y . is to be recited twice at the conclusion of the YH. These repetitions, however, are not constituent 13I quote the Suppl.ŠnŠ according to F, published by K. M. Jamaspasa and M. Nawabi (eds.), Manuscript F. Šayest-nē -̄Šayest̄ (incomplete Pahl. text) Āfrin-i Zartuxst, Čim-i Dron̄(The Pahlavi Codices and Iranian Re- searches ) (Shiraz, ), pp. –. The manuscript was collated only indirectly by F. M. Kotwal, The supplementary texts to the Šayest̄ Ne-̄Šayest̄ (København, ), p. I have preserved the MS’s rendering of the Av.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • GIKYO ITO Kyoto Sangyo University in the Denkard We Read Jam's 10
    JAM'S 10 PRECEPTS AND YASNA 32:8 (PAHLAVICA II)(1) GIKYOITO Kyoto Sangyo University In the Denkard we read Jam's 10 precepts and those of Azdahag in oppositionto them thus:(2) |adar 10 andarzi huramagJam |o |mardom <ud>(3)10 i dahisn kahenidar Dahag padirag |an andarz wirast. |az nigez i weh den. On the 10 precepts of Jam having beautiful flocks to mankind and the 10 (precepts) which established, against those precepts, Dahag, the diminisher of creation. From the exposition of the good religion. |had asn-xradzahag dam sud |weh den passand dadar kam. 10 i andarz i huramag Jam |o mardom. Now (here is) an emanation of the innate wisdom, an advantage of the creature, an object receiving the approbation of the good religion, a will of the creator. (That is) the 10 precepts of Jam having beautiful flocks to mankind. ek dadar i gehan [menidan] amurnjenidarih <i> gehan menidan guftan padis ostigan |estadan. (1) One (is) to think, say (and) stand steadfast in it that the creator of the world is not the injurer of the world. ud ek |dew |pad |tis abadih |ne yastan. (2) And one (is) not to worship dew(s) on account of whatever prosperity (of the world). ek dad mayan <mardoman>mehenidan ostigan ddstan. (3) One (is) to uplift the law among human beings (and) to keep (it) steadfastly. ek |abar |har |tis payman rayenidan ud frehbud ud abebud azis anaftan. (4) One (is) to arrange moderation over every matter and to avert from it excess and deficiency. ek |xwardan bradarwar《ciy bradaran》.(4) (5) One (is) to eat-and-drink brotherly《like brothers》.
    [Show full text]
  • Denkard Book 9
    DENKARD, Book 9 Details of Nasks 1-3, 21 (The Original Gathic Texts) Translated by Edward William West From Sacred Books of the East, Oxford University Press, 1897. Digitized and converted to HTML 1997 Joseph H. Peterson, avesta.org. Last updated Mar 2, 2021. 1 Foreword The Denkard is a ninth century encyclopedia of the Zoroastrian religion, but with extensive quotes from materials thousands of years older, including (otherwise) lost Avestan texts. It is the single most valuable source of information on this religion aside from the Avesta. This volume contains detailed contents of the Gathic Nasks of the Ancient Canon, much of which is now lost in the original Avesta. Note however, that (as Dr. West says) “it is abundantly clear to the practised translator that Avesta phrases often underlie the Pahlavi passages which seem to be quoted at length from the original Nasks, especially in Dk. 9; but, for some of the details mentioned, there may be no older authority than a Pahlavi commentary, and this should be ever borne in mind by the sceptical critic in search of anachronisms.” I have added some comments in {} and [[]], mainly to facilitate searches. Spelling of technical terms have also been normalized to conform with other texts in this series. Wherever possible I have used the spellings of F.M. Kotwal and J. Boyd, A Guide to the Zoroastrian Religion, Scholars Press, 1982. The original S.B.E. volumes used a system of transliteration which was misleading to the casual reader, and no longer adopted. As an example “chinwad” (bridge) (Kotwal and Boyd) was transliterated in S.B.E.
    [Show full text]
  • Mecusi Geleneğinde Tektanrıcılık Ve Düalizm Ilişkisi
    T.C. İSTANBUL ÜN İVERS İTES İ SOSYAL B İLİMLER ENST İTÜSÜ FELSEFE VE D İN B İLİMLER İ ANAB İLİM DALI DİNLER TAR İHİ B İLİM DALI DOKTORA TEZ İ MECUS İ GELENE Ğİ NDE TEKTANRICILIK VE DÜAL İZM İLİŞ KİSİ Mehmet ALICI (2502050181) Tez Danı şmanı: Prof.Dr. Şinasi GÜNDÜZ İstanbul 2011 T.C. İSTANBUL ÜN İVERS İTES İ SOSYAL B İLİMLER ENST İTÜSÜ FELSEFE VE D İN B İLİMLER İ ANAB İLİM DALI DİNLER TAR İHİ B İLİM DALI DOKTORA TEZ İ MECUS İ GELENE Ğİ NDE TEKTANRICILIK VE DÜAL İZM İLİŞ KİSİ Mehmet ALICI (2502050181) Tez Danı şmanı: Prof.Dr. Şinasi GÜNDÜZ (Bu tez İstanbul Üniversitesi Bilimsel Ara ştırma Projeleri Komisyonu tarafından desteklenmi ştir. Proje numarası:4247) İstanbul 2011 ÖZ Bu çalı şma Mecusi gelene ğinde tektanrıcılık ve düalizm ili şkisini ortaya çıkı şından günümüze kadarki tarihsel süreç içerisinde incelemeyi hedef edinir. Bu ba ğlamda Mecusilik üç temel teolojik süreç çerçevesinde ele alınmaktadır. Bu ba ğlamda birinci teolojik süreçte Mecusili ğin kurucusu addedilen Zerdü şt’ün kendisine atfedilen Gatha metninde tanrı Ahura Mazda çerçevesinde ortaya koydu ğu tanrı tasavvuru incelenmektedir. Burada Zerdü şt’ün anahtar kavram olarak belirledi ği tanrı Ahura Mazda ve onunla ili şkilendirilen di ğer ilahi figürlerin ili şkisi esas alınmaktadır. Zerdü şt sonrası Mecusi teolojisinin şekillendi ği Avesta metinleri ikinci teolojik süreci ihtiva etmektedir. Bu dönem Zerdü şt’ten önceki İran’ın tanrı tasavvurlarının yeniden kutsal metne yani Avesta’ya dahil edilme sürecini yansıtmaktadır. Dolayısıyla Avesta edebiyatı Zerdü şt sonrası dönü şen bir teolojiyi sunmaktadır. Bu noktada ba şta Ahura Mazda kavramı olmak üzere, Zerdü şt’ün Gatha’da ortaya koydu ğu mefhumların de ğişti ği görülmektedir.
    [Show full text]
  • A Historical Overview of the Parsi Settlement in Navsari 62 9
    Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture www.dabirjournal.org Digital Archive of Brief notes & Iran Review ISSN: 2470-4040 Vol.01 No.04.2017 1 xšnaoθrahe ahurahe mazdå Detail from above the entrance of Tehran’s fire temple, 1286š/1917–18. Photo by © Shervin Farridnejad The Digital Archive of Brief Notes & Iran Review (DABIR) ISSN: 2470-4040 www.dabirjournal.org Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture University of California, Irvine 1st Floor Humanities Gateway Irvine, CA 92697-3370 Editor-in-Chief Touraj Daryaee (University of California, Irvine) Editors Parsa Daneshmand (Oxford University) Arash Zeini (Freie Universität Berlin) Shervin Farridnejad (Freie Universität Berlin) Judith A. Lerner (ISAW NYU) Book Review Editor Shervin Farridnejad (Freie Universität Berlin) Advisory Board Samra Azarnouche (École pratique des hautes études); Dominic P. Brookshaw (Oxford University); Matthew Canepa (University of Minnesota); Ashk Dahlén (Uppsala University); Peyvand Firouzeh (Cambridge University); Leonardo Gregoratti (Durham University); Frantz Grenet (Collège de France); Wouter F.M. Henkelman (École Pratique des Hautes Études); Rasoul Jafarian (Tehran University); Nasir al-Ka‘abi (University of Kufa); Andromache Karanika (UC Irvine); Agnes Korn (Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main); Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (University of Edinburgh); Jason Mokhtarain (University of Indiana); Ali Mousavi (UC Irvine); Mahmoud Omidsalar (CSU Los Angeles); Antonio Panaino (Univer- sity of Bologna); Alka Patel (UC Irvine); Richard Payne (University of Chicago); Khodadad Rezakhani (Princeton University); Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis (British Museum); M. Rahim Shayegan (UCLA); Rolf Strootman (Utrecht University); Giusto Traina (University of Paris-Sorbonne); Mohsen Zakeri (Univer- sity of Göttingen) Logo design by Charles Li Layout and typesetting by Kourosh Beighpour Contents Articles & Notes 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Commonalities Between Yaj–A Ritual in India and Yasna Ritual in Iran
    Indian Journal of History of Science, 51.4 (2016) 592-600 DOI: 10.16943/ijhs/2016/v51/i4/41236 Commonalities between Yaj–a Ritual in India and Yasna Ritual in Iran Azadeh Heidarpoor* and Fariba Sharifian* (Received 07 December 2015) Abstract Sacrifice ritual in India and ancient Iran has been of particular importance. This ritual is called Yaj–a and Yasna respectively in India and Iran. In Brāhmaas and later Avesta, it is considered as one of the most important religious ceremonies with commonalities and the same root. The most important commonalities in holding sacrifice rituals in Iran and India are fire elements, Iranian haoma or Indian soma drink after bloody or non-bloody sacrifices, and singing holy hymns [of praise] by spirituals who hold the rituals. Given the importance of these elements in both Yasna and Yaj–a ceremonies, we can find out their common root in a period before separation of Indian and Iranian peoples from each other and their settlement in India and Iran. Ancient Indo-Iranians believed that there were many divinities in the world and these divinities had to be worshiped to be calmed so that order is established in the world; along with sacrifices and offerings. Sacrifices and offerings were made in mainly, (1) to please gods; and (2) to establish order in a better manner in the management of world affairs. The ancient Indo-Iranians apart from performing their sacrifices to gods, they also worshiped two vital elements: water and fire, for they considered them vital and priceless in life. Indo-Iranians considered waters as goddesses whom they called Ops.
    [Show full text]
  • Fshusho Maanthra - the Yasna of Prosperity - Yasna 58 – Verses 1 - 4 Hello All Tele Class Friends
    Weekly Zoroastrian Scripture Extract # 279: Fshusho Maanthra - the Yasna of prosperity - Yasna 58 – Verses 1 - 4 Hello all Tele Class friends: 21 Nasks: Gathic, Datic and Had-Maanthrik The legend tells us that our holy Prophet Zarathushtra compiled all the knowledge known at the time in 21 Nasks (volumes). They were divided into 3 groups of 7 each. They were: • Gaathic or Staota Yasna containing hymns; • Daatic meaning legal; • and Hadha-Maantrik meaning other insightful thoughts. Alexander The Macedonian (356 - 323 BCE) destroyed all our Avesta of Hakhaamanian time. King Vologases I of Parthian Dynasty (reign: 51 - 78 AD) tried to collect all the available remnants of them. Finally, they were all revived in Sassanian times but again completely destroyed by the Arabs. An outline of all the 21 Nasks is given in Dinkard (a 10th century CE Pahlavi text), an encyclopedia of the Zoroastrian Religion beliefs and customs written by a number of authors in post-Arab invasion Iran. Staota Yasna – Yasna Haas 14 - 58 In current times, it was thought that except Yasna, Visperad, Vendidad and Khordeh Avesta, all the remaining Nasks were lost. However, lately, scholars believe that a part of the Staota Yasht Nask, Staota Yasna, is intact in the 72 Haas (chapters) of our Yasna. According to them, Yasna Haas 14 - 58 comprise the Staota Yasna which contains all 5 Gathas of Zarathushtra, 7 Haas of Yasna Haptanghaaiti and other Haas of Yasna within its total 72 Haas. In this Staota Yasna Haas, Yasna Haa 55 is particularly referred to as Staota Yasna (words of praise and worship), written in Gathic Avesta.
    [Show full text]
  • Denkard VI and Status of Sassanid Kings
    J. Basic. Appl. Sci. Res., 3(1)1124-1132, 2013 ISSN 2090-4304 Journal of Basic and Applied © 2013, TextRoad Publication Scientific Research www.textroad.com Denkard VI and Status of Sassanid Kings Mehrangiz Kiani Haft Lang PhD candidate in the field of Ancient Culture Languages at the Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University .Tehran, Iran ABSTRACT The sixth book of denkard contains a lot of advices that promise people future prosperity with justifying good and evil. Although, none of the Sassanid kings are explicitly addressed in the book, some sayings imply to the circumstances of sassanian dynasty in different periods. Advices in denkard VI are mainly quoted by early sages (Poryōtkēšān) and some topics raised in advices are considered as a guide for people and rulers in material and spiritual life. In this article it will be tried to present a detailed discussion on religion, consultation, wisdom, moderation, heresy, dervishes and contentment in sassanid period based on denkard VI. KEYWORDS: people, religion, world, good, evil. INTRODUCTION Advices in denkard VI mostly quoted worldview and beliefs of ancient sages for improvement of society. In fact, they expressed their ideas and experiences in form of advice for guidance or warning of people. What kings said upon their accession to the throne, or on departing the material world could also be regarded as advice. Some rulers tended to record their opinions even on their personal accessories in order to dominate their will over people. Xšaθra Vaīrya signifies a favorable reign that is based on the God’s will, heeds the poor and overcomes the evil.
    [Show full text]
  • AVESTA PRAYER: Aatash Niyaayesh Verse 1 (Yasna 62 Verse 1)
    WZSE – Weekly Zoroastrian Scripture Extract # 50. Hello all Tele Class friends: Today, according to our Shehenshahi Parsi calendar, it is Aadar Mahino (month) and Aadar Roj (day), traditionally called Aadar Yazad nu Parab. (Parab falls on a day of the same name as the month). Today is also one of the most auspicious day, Saal Gareh of Holy Iranshah in Udvada! Hundreds of Parsis/Iranis thronged Iranshah Aatash Behram today and over 1000+ people were fed a Gahambar lunch by the Petit Charities right next to Iranshah! Almost all Parsis/Iranis have great faith in this oldest Atash Behram where the resplendent fire burns continuously since 720 AD!! In honor of Iranshah’s Saal Gareh, we would present the first verse of the Aatash Nyaayesh (Yasna Ha 62 Verse 1)! Aatash Niyaayesh Verse 1 (Yasna 62 Verse 1) AVESTA PRAYER: (Please hear the attached .mp3 file for its recitation) (1) Yasnemcha vahmemcha, Huberetîmcha ushta-beretîmcha vanta-beretîmcha, Aafrînami tava aatarsh puthra ahurahé mazdaao, Yésnyo ahi vahmyo, yésnyo buyao vahmyo, Nmaanaahu mashyaakanaanm, Ushta buyaat ahmaai nairé Yase-thwaa baadha fraayazaaité, Aésmo zasto, baresmo-zasto, gao-zasto, haavano-zasto! Aatash Niyaayesh Verse 1 (Yasna 62 Verse 1) English Translation: (1) I bless the sacrifice and prayer, The good offering, and the devotional offering offered unto Thee, Oh Fire! son of Ahura Mazda. Worthy of sacrifice mayest art thou, Worthy of prayer, In the dwelling of men. Happiness may there be unto that man Who verily shall sacrifice unto Thee, With fuel (Sukhad) in his hand, With the Baresman in his hand, With milk in his hand, With the mortar (Haavanim) in his hand.
    [Show full text]
  • Hodivala:Studies in Parsi History (Pdf)
    STUDIES ico PARS! HlSrVRY. \ BY M SHAHPURSHAH HORMASJI HODIVAIA, M. A it Principal (tnd Professor of Historij, v : % tn b n ,* 1920 Presented to the LIBRARY of the UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO by WiUard G. Oxtoby STUDIES IN PARSI HISTORY. BY SHAHPURSHAH HORMASJI HODiVALA, M. A. Principal and Professor of History y Bahauddin College, Junagadh. Bombay: 1920 PARSI ORPHANAGE M X \T THK T N PKTIT BY '=-^"'^"' '^""' '"'"" P RINTED "- - '--^•- =\!^.^;rp:^™"-- AND M. HORMASJI HODIVALA, A., PUBLISHED BY SH.-lAHPURSHAH JUNAGADH.„»^ ,t.„ AT THE BAHAUDDIN COLLEGE, CONTENTS : Page. The Traditional Dates of Parsi History ... 1 —36 The Sack of Sanjan ... ... ... ... ... ... 37 —66 Jadi Rana aud the Kissah-i-Saujan 67—dl The Kissah'i-Sanjan Translated 92-117 The Colophons of Mihirapan Kaikhusrd ,., 118-133 Was there a Parsi Fire Temple at Broach in 324 A. Y.? ... 134-148 Mahrvaid ... ... ••• ••• ••• ... ••» ••• 149-188 Some Ancient Parsi Documents 189-253 Some Parsi-Sanscrit Colophons 254-275 The Dates of the Persian Revayets 276-349 Pf?EFAGE. This is neither a compendious nor comprehensive History of the Parsis nor a Critical Dissertation on their origin, manners or customs. It is only a collection qf Essays written with the object of throwing fresh light on some dark <rorners of Parsi antiquities, by offering new solutions of old difficulties or unearthing facts which have hitherto escaped discovery. It is the product of twenty-five years' industrious study of the subject and of long-continued and persistent search for new materials and sources of information in all directions. The first paper is probably the one round which controversy will gather.
    [Show full text]
  • Ardibehesht Yasht
    Ardibehesht Yasht Through Fire do we approach Thee, O Ahura Mazda! (Yasna 36.1) Introduction: Ardibehesht is the Pahlavi name for the Avestan Asha Vahishta. Ardibehesht Ameshaspand presides over the Creation of Fire. Fire is the most perfect and unadulterated reflection, in the Spiritual World as on Earth, of the One Eternal Flame. It is the origin and the end of every material thing. It is the Divine Substance; it is heat, light, motion and intellect! Yasna 17.11 mentions Fire not only in its visible forms, but also in its invisible forms. The Invisible or Spiritual Fire is the Cosmic Energy, the Divine Light of Ahura Mazda pervading every atom of the Universe, transmuting matter to spirit, ultimately realizing the Goal of Frashogard. Yasna 31.7 states that Creation began with Ahura Mazda’s First Thought. He first thought of creating the Heavenly Realms filled with Light! Additionally, Yasna 29.7 reveals that Ahura Mazda framed the Holy Manthra through Asha! Holy Manthra is the Divine Word, “Ahunavar”, whose consequential resonances manifested as “staot”, the science of colors, sound, light, numbers and shapes. “Asha” indicates the Immutable Laws of Nature which are the result of the First Thought/Light, in charge of Asha Vahishta (Yasna 54). As established, the Word/Sound (Manthra) is produced by the Primordial Thought/Light of Ahura Mazda. The Ardibehesht Yasht emphasizes the interrelationship of light and sound as forms of energy. Thunder and lightening are a simple example of how light and sound are unified. That Fire is related to sound or speech is also evident from the Atash Niyayesh, karda 4, wherein it is stated that Atash grants wisdom and “fluent tongue”.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring the Gathas
    Exploring the Gathas: Creation — Amesha Spentas Good and Evil — Reward and Retribution — Ervad Behram M. Panthaki Ushta-no zato Athrava, yo Spitamo Zarathushtro Fortunate are we that the Teacher was born, Spitama Zarathushtra (Yasna xii - 94) Introduction Gatha is an Avesta word meaning ‘a song, a hymn, a divine song.’ As the name implies, the Gathas are the divine songs and are metrical chants of Zarathushtra himself. These are expressively stated to be five in number, and “of Zarathushtra Spitama” (Yasna 57.8). Each of the five Gathas consists of one to seven Haitis - Has - Sections/Chapters, grouped in the Gathas on the basis of their five different metres (3-5-4- 3-4). The second to fifth Gathas are named after their respective opening words where as the first Gatha, the Ahunavaiti Gatha, is named after Yatha Ahu Vairyo [Ahuna Vairiya (Yasna 27.13)] which evidently had been counted as the beginning of the Gathas in an earlier compilation of the Yasna. Thus we have the following subdivision of the Gatha collection with their Avesta names, meaning, with corresponding numbers of the cantos of the Yasna: 1. Ahunavaiti (Divine Will) Yasna 28-34 2. Ushtavaiti (Bliss) Yasna 43-46 3. Spenta-Mainyu (Bountiful Wisdom) Yasna 47-50 4. Vohu-Khshathra (Beneficent authority) Yasna 51 5. Vahishtoishti (the highest Boon) Yasna 53 The Gathas must be judged by themselves and in the light of their own contents. The thought of the Gathas is really profound. The Gathas are spiritual in the fullest sense of the term. Therefore, it is essential to lift up their message to spiritual heights and never to understand them at the ordinary earthly level.
    [Show full text]
  • Staota Yasna - Yasna 55 - Verses 1 - 3 Hello All Tele Class Friends: Staota Yasna – Yasna 14 - 58
    Weekly Zoroastrian Scripture Extract # 163 – Homage To Gathas - Staota Yasna - Yasna 55 - Verses 1 - 3 Hello all Tele Class friends: Staota Yasna – Yasna 14 - 58 21 Nasks: Gathic, Datic and Had-Maanthrik The legend tells us that our holy Prophet Zarathushtra compiled all the knowledge known at the time in 21 Nasks (volumes). They were divided into 3 groups of 7 each. They were: - Gathic or Staota Yasna containing hymns; - Datic meaning legal; - and Hadha-Maantrik meaning other insightful thoughts. Alexander The Accursed (356 – 323 BCE) destroyed all our Avesta of Hakhamanian time. King Vologases I of Parthian Dynasty (reign: 51 – 78 AD) tried to collect all the available remnants of them. Finally, they were all revived in Sassanian times but again completely destroyed by the Arabs. An outline of all the 21 Nasks is given in Dinkard (a 10th century CE Pahlavi text), an encyclopedia of the Zoroastrian Religion beliefs and customs written by a number of authors in post-Arab invasion Iran. In current times, it was thought that except Yasna, Visperad, Vendidad and Khordeh Avesta, all the remaining Naskas were lost. However, lately, scholars believe that a part of the Staota Yasht Nask, Staota Yasna, is intact in the 72 Haas (chapters) of our Yasna. Its 14 – 58 Haas comprise the Staota Yasna which contains all 5 Gathas of Zarathushtra, 7 Haas of Yasna Haptanghaaiti and other Haas of Yasna within its total 72 Haas. In this Staota Yasna Haas, Yasna Haa 55 is particularly referred to as Staota Yasna (words of praise and worship), written in Gathic Avesta.
    [Show full text]